Exercise is any type of physical activity that employs the muscles of the body. Exercise may be provided by sports or by home activities and the like but there are more formal types of exercises which require running, jumping, throwing, squatting, lifting and pushing movements as well as other movements which cause the muscles to be worked. Exercise is important in developing the muscles of the body as well as to maintain the body in good physical condition. Exercise aids health by improving various body functions including breathing, blood circulation, digestion and so forth. It is also believed that exercise improves mental health.
Numerous types of exercising devices are well known. Some of these devices, insofar as they may relate to the present invention, are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,666,640; 3,144,545; and 3,540,724.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,666,640 K. L. Jennings discloses an exercising stand consisting generally of a pair of inverted U-shaped frames each having a front leg and a rear leg the two front legs being rotatably received in elongated bearing and thrust resisting sleeves carried by the ends of a horizontal thrust resisting bar arranged at a distance above the lower ends of the front legs. This positions the bearing and thrust sleeves near the medial portions of the two front legs to prevent outward bending, tilting and the spreading of the end frames caused by outward thrusts exerted upon these frames from a point therebetween. This device is useful insofar as it pertains to constituting an exercising stand for dynamic exercises, however, this type of apparatus finds no use in connection with isometric exercises.
C. L. Horn discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,545 a collapsible and adjustable head stand apparatus which consists of three main pieces all of which are essentially flat and may be packed into a relatively thin carrying case. The three pieces are assembled into a head stand by means of two telescoping joints and two specially designed screw threaded couplings. This type of apparatus is intended for a relatively specific type of exercise operation and is not useful in connection with isometric exercises.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,724 W. Hunter discloses a multi-positionable exercising device comprising a frame including parallel side bars adapted at the ends thereof to be jointly releasably joined to the connecting portions of a U-shaped end piece alternatively in either co-planar or angularly related relationship. An endless band of resilient material may be used with the device to provide a yieldable resistance to movement of selected parts of the exercising device. This apparatus is also not utile in connection with isometric exercises as will be disclosed in greater detail hereinunder.